The Strain by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan

The Strain (Strain Trilogy, #1)

by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The high-concept thriller with a supernatural edge from the world-famous director, whose films include Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy.

A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously ‘goes dark’, stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised.

When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead – although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads.

The first thing they discover is that four of the victims are actually still alive. But that’s the only good news. And when all two hundred corpses disappear from various morgues around the city on the same night, things very rapidly get worse. Soon Eph and a small band of helpers will find themselves battling to protect not only their own loved ones, but the whole city, against an ancient threat to humanity.

Perfect for fans of Dean Koontz’s The Eyes of Darkness

Reviewed by ibeforem on

3 of 5 stars

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It’s been a few weeks since I finished this, and I’m still not completely sure what I thought about it. On one hand, it was a interesting, creepy twist on the vampire. No brooding looks or sparkling skin here, just gore and horror. On the other hand, you could really tell that a screenwriter was one of the authors. Things jumped around A LOT. There were many times when I just wanted to get back to our main heroes: Eph, Nora, and Setrakian. The reason we were following some of these secondary characters became clear in the end, but I still think some of the other scenes could have been cut. The book does end on a cliffhanger with little to no resolution, so that’s something to keep in mind before you pick it up. I liked our core team of protagonists, so I’ll probably pick up the second book to see what happens to them. It’s hard to imagine a way for New York to get out of this mess.

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  • Started reading
  • 13 December, 2010: Finished reading
  • 13 December, 2010: Reviewed